Why Your Articles Aren't Working
and What You Can Do to Make Them
Bring You Thousands of Visitors
Debra McDougal |
There are four different goals for articles. The same type of article doesn’t work with
every goal. Let’s first define the four
goals for articles:
Goal #1 – Website Content
Content is the heart of a website or blog. Not only do you need a bunch of words to go
with your graphics, but you need readable information that engages your
readers. The content must hold your
readers’ attention long enough to stay on the site and come back again soon. You want your readers to place a bookmark on
your site because you gave them free information they can use to make their
life better.
Good research goes into this type of article. The content is well-written with good grammar
and spelling. It is also written at a
level of about 8th grade reading ability. You want your name associated with good
content included on your website. It
brands you as an expert in your niche.
This type of content is often used to fill a new website.
Goal #2 – Back Links
The back link article points back to your website or blog
from an article directory, Squidoo lens, HubPage or other social media site that
has a high page rank. Google ranks a page
according to how many back links it has.
Articles of this type are not of the same quality as content to be
placed directly on your site. It’s not
junk, but it’s also not as complete as a good content article.
The sole purpose of the back link is to manually or mass
submit it to article directories and to build link pyramids and wheels. The information is purposely incomplete so
that the reader will click to the main site for more information.
Goal #3 – Pre-Sell
The goal of the call for action article is to persuade
readers to complete a specific action such as click on a link to drive traffic
directly from the article to your site.
Call for action articles are used to present why your products and
services are desirable over other alternatives.
They contain resource boxes the point directly to your
website or blog. You’ll find them most often in article directories and auto
responders to send to a list of customers.
Many times a free report is offered to get the click. Getting the reader to click a link is the
goal.
Goal #4 - Syndication
The "super" content article is used to “show off” your
expertise in your niche. It’s a step
above the content article in that it has statistics, quotes, arresting facts or
a brief history near the beginning of the article. These are used to let the reader know that
this is not some ordinary article because the author presented information
that’s not commonly known.
The average number of words in a content article is 500 to
600 words. A super content article is much
longer—700 to 1,000 or more words. After
one of the added elements listed above, the rest of the article should follow
the lead with very helpful information and good writing. It’s the kind of article that draws bloggers
and newsletter editors to include your article with its attached resource box
in their next issue.
Guest bloggers need a super content article to make a good
impression on readers of high traffic blogs and newsletters. You should see a burst of traffic after
submitting it to a popular blog.
Earlier I mentioned that the problem of not getting what you
expect from a freelancer is a two-fold problem.
The marketer’s problem is he or she doesn’t have a goal. The freelancer’s
problem is being unaware there are four different types of articles depending
on the goal and not asking the customer the right questions.
When you know what you want your article to do and relay
that purpose to the freelancer, you should eliminate the frustrating feeling of
not receiving what you were expecting.
Even if the article is well-written with good content, if it’s in the
wrong form, it will not serve the purpose for which it was intended.
Now that you know what you need your article to do, you can
determine immediately if a freelancer can deliver by asking the right
questions. All writers are not aware of
the different types of articles, so don’t assume they do.
Let me be of service.
webcontentdiva@gmail.com
Let me be of service.
webcontentdiva@gmail.com